Saturday, January 28, 2017

MODERN ATTEMPTS TO REPRODUCE THE CATTLE PICTURED IN CAVE PAINTINGS - THE PALEOLITHIC AUROCHS:

Cave painting of an aurochs.

Public Domain.

On January
7, 2017, I posted a column titled Cave
Art Provides A Confirmation Of A Hybrid Bison Species In Paleolithic Europe,
which presented the use of cave art to confirm
a theory about the evolutionary development of the European bison which had
been based upon genetic analysis of ancient remains. Previously, on December 4,
2011, I had posted a column titled Lascaux's
Paintings, the Aurochs, and Heck's Cattle,about attempts in the middle of
the last century to breed cattle back to their Paleolithic form, the Aurochs.
These Heck's Cattle were produced using traditional methods of selecting for
traits and crossbreeding. Each generation being selectively bred for appearance
and behavior that was assumed to be similar to the Aurochs. These attempts were
begun in Germany in the 1920s by two brothers with the name of Heck. They were
later supported by the Nazi party in Germany. A lineage of cattle was bred by
each brother, one in Berlin and one in Munich. The Berlin animals did not
survive the war so modern Heck cattle are descended from the Munich line.

Gaur, the largest living cattle

breed. Public domain.

"The
aurochs was one of the largest herbivores in
postglacial Europe, comparable to the wisent (European bison). The size of an
aurochs appears to have varied by region; in Europe, northern populations were
bigger on average than those from the south. For example, during the Holocene,
aurochs from Denmark and Germany had
an average height at the shoulders of 155–180 cm (61–71 in) in bulls
and 135–155 cm (53–61 in) in cows, while aurochs populations in
Hungary had bulls reaching 155–160 cm (61–63 in). The
body mass of aurochs appears to have shown some variability. Some individuals
were comparable in weight to the wisent and the banteng, reaching around
700 kg (1,500 lb), whereas those from the late-middle Pleistocene are
estimated to have weighed up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb), as much as the
largest gaur (the
largest extant bovid).The sexual dimorphism between bulls and cows was expressed with the cows
being significantly shorter than bulls on average." (Wikipedia)

Cave painting of an aurochs,

Lascaux. Public domain.

A number of
programs in Europe are now undertaking to breed a new aurochs, not through
traditional breeding practices exemplified by the Heck's Cattle, but by using
genetic analysis to locate genes similar to the aurochs in modern breeds and
recombine them, in a sense to breed back to future of the aurochs.

A photoshopped image representing an

aurochs with two men. Public domain.

"The Dutch-based Tauros Programme
(initially TaurOs Project) is trying to DNA-sequence breeds of primitive cattle
to find gene sequences that match those found in "ancient DNA" from
aurochs samples. The modern cattle would be selectively bred to try to produce
the aurochs-type genes in a single animal. Starting around 2007, Tauros
Programme selected a number of primitive breeds mainly from Iberia and Italy,
such as Sayaguesa Cattle, Maremmana primitivo, Pajuna Cattle, Limia Cattle,
Maronesa, Tudanca Cattle, and others, which already bear considerable
resemblance to the aurochs in certain features. Tauros Programme started
collaborations with Rewilding Europe and European Wildlife, two European
organizations for ecological restoration and rewilding, and now has breeding
herds not only in the Netherlands, but also in Portugal, Croatia, Romania, and
the Czech Republic. Numerous crossbred calves of the first, second, and third
offspring generations have been born already." (Wikipedia)

Cro-Magnon graffito of aurochs (Bos

primigenius) in Grotta del Romito,

Papasidero, Italy. Wikipedia,

public domain.

Arden Dier,
writing for www.newser.com, on January 10, 2017, wrote: "Standing nearly as tall as an elephant, the aurochs grazed for
250,000 years until its extinction in
1627. But its story may not end there: Scientists say they are close to
resurrecting the "supercow," once the largest land mammal in Europe,
reports CNN. In search of herbivores to maintain land areas at risk of becoming
barren, geneticists began breeding aurochs descendant with similar cattle
breeds in 2008 and found they could "produce animals far closer to the
aurochs than we would have expected," says Ronald Goderie of the Tauros
Project. Fourth-generation beasts have now been introduced in Croatia, Spain,
Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Romania with promising results.

"We see progress not only in
looks and behavior but also in de-domestication of the animals," says
Goderie, noting one herd has learned to defend itself against wolves. The hope
is that they will become part of the ecosystem to maintain land for other
enimals. But a rep for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
says it's unclear "whether primarily wetland forests like the aurochs used
to inhabit still exist, whether it could negatively impact wild or domestic
plants or animals, and if it might endanger people." Indeed, a British
farmer had to kill some of his aurochs-descended cattle in 2015 because they
tried to kill him, per the Independent. That species, however, came from a Nazi
breeding program that used Spanish fighting cattle." (www.newser.com)

Once again
we look at the possibility of being able to see the mighty creatures that our
ancient ancestors lived among and that they recorded in the beautiful heritage of
Paleolithic cave art. Definitely an exciting possibility (you can read the
original story at www.newser.com, check the full address in References below.)

NOTE: Some
of the illustrations above were procured as the result of an Internet search
for "aurochs - public domain." If any of these images were not
actually meant for public domain usage I apologize for misusing them.

NOTE-2: A few days after posting this article I received my March 2017 issue of Discover magazine which includes a longer article on this subject, "Return of the Aurochs," written by Jonathon Keats. Check this out.

REFERENCES:

Dier, Arden

2017 Cows Once As Big As Elephants May Soon Roam
Europe, http://www.newser.com/story/23661/cows-as-big-as-elephants-may-soon-roam-europe.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=foxnews&utm_campaign=rss_science_syn, January
10, 2017.

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"We can be nearly certain that we who look upon the rock art today were not the intended audience. But they have meanings for us non-the-less. Whether that meaning is part of our archaeological studies, a part of national or regional heritage or simply an appreciation of their aesthetic beauty, we are their inheritors and it is up to us to preserve them with care and dignity." D. Russel Micnhimer, 2012.

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About Me

30+ year member of the Colorado Archaeological Society,
Founder and former President of the Colorado Rock Art Association,
Member of the Arapahoe County Cultural Commission, President of Institute for Archeoesthetics.
2013 recipient of the Ivol Hagar Award for outstanding service to the Colorado Archaeological Society, and a 2013 Colorado Rock Art Association Chapter Achievement Award. Member of Archaeology and Historic Preservation Committee and also Programs Committee of History Colorado.
Arapahoe County Cultural Council.